Young Researchers in Mathematics 2018

Over the Summer, Southampton University was host to Young Researchers in Mathematics (YRM), the UK’s biggest annual conference run for early career mathematicians. YRM began in 2009 aiming to promote links between graduate mathematical groups at universities across the UK, and facilitate workshops and social events for young mathematicians. Since then, it has become an annual conference bringing together communities of PhD students, postdocs and other “career-young" researchers from across the UK and abroad, in all areas of mathematics. With participants this year ranging in age from their 20s to 60s, “young researcher” purely means someone starting out in their mathematical career. The 2018 conference was a great success, with over 80 masters students, PhDs, Postdocs and Lecturers travelling across the country for 8 invited talks, 31 contributed talks, 3 workshops, 13 contributed posters and a public lecture given by Southampton’s Professor Jim Anderson.

What makes YRM so unique in the UK is the breadth of topics covered and the exposure to opportunities outside of traditional academic research. This year’s event included invited speakers from Algebra, Computational Category Theory, PDEs, Number Theory, Statistics, Set Theory, Topology and Mathematical Physics, while the workshops covered topics such as Ethics in Mathematics, a guide to outreach and mathematical careers outside of academia. General conferences like this are the perfect opportunity to find out about the mathematical world outside of a participant’s home institution, and many commented favourably on the accessibility of talks this year and the engaging workshops.

 

One of the most positive aspects of YRM is the opportunity to meet people from institutions with small research groups who do not normally have the opportunity of engagement with such a vibrant mathematical community, as is found at YRM. Thanks to the generous funding from sponsors - Winton, the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, the London Mathematical Society, the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, MAGIC, and Enable - financial support was provided to young researchers from a wide range of different backgrounds, and as far away as Ireland, Spain, Germany, the US and Canada as well as throughout the UK.

 

It was certainly a rewarding experience for the Southampton team involved in organising YRM, all of whom are young researchers themselves. Organising an event on this scale isn’t an opportunity many people get while doing their PhD, and all their hard work definitely felt like it paid off when so many of the participants gave such positive feedback. With the next two years of YRM hosts being announced soon, they are all looking forward to YRM 2019!